Encrust do not care if they hurt the feelings of genre purists. In fact, they seem to enjoy it. The Chicago quintet merges a wealth of extreme styles seamlessly on its debut album, From Birth To Soil, available September 25 via Density Records. Siphoning guttural growls through thunderous riffs and an extreme percussive stomp, the group—Chris Angelucci [vocals], Luke Tobias [guitar], Ryan Kasparian [guitar], Jeremy Pyrzynski [bass], and Brian Kutanovski [drums]—pummels unlike anyone else on the scene.

Encrust formally came together in May 2010. As he was driving home from work one night, Pyrzynski received a call from a friend suggesting he hit the studio with the band to record a three-song demo. Able to not only learn the material on the fly, but also to add his ideas, the chemistry proved instantaneous and inimitable. “I got to the studio at 11pm that night, and I was there until 8am,” he recalls with a laugh. “Everyone just clicked, and we were able to go for it. All of us have played in technical heavy bands so this was a breath of fresh air because the riffs can resound and we don’t have to over think anything. It’s very natural.”

At the end of the day, there’s a crucial catharsis at the heart of Encrust. “It’s a release,” Pyrzynski concludes. “Our relief from the monotony of daily, civilized life is to create, rather than give in to the destructive impulses inherent in the human animal. We save those for when we are on stage, and if others can tap into that, then we‘ve accomplished more than we could have ever hoped.”